Ratings System

Sunday, June 7, 2015

No matter what generation a child is in, there are certain expectations that are in existence even to this day. One of those expectations is eventually settling down in some type of relationship, with relationship being the key word. It's never really discussed that some people might want (and enjoy) being on their own as an individual, without the joint decisions that have to be made and, some would say, tie-downs, that occur as part of a pair.

I don't know what I was expecting when I picked up Kate Bolick's Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own. But what I got, was part history lesson, part memoir of Bolick's life and spinster "muses" (some of whom weren't even spinsters). Of course, almost everyone has heard of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Edith Wharton, but I have to say, it was interesting to also read about some women I've never even hard of -- Neith Boyce, Maeve Brennan, and the like.

What I did not like at all about Spinster was the high degree of disorganization. Things seemed to be all over the place, like "Oh, we're reading about her again." The topic Bolick wrote about is an interesting one, and I was hoping to get more documented research about truly wanting and enjoying being alone. Instead, this book was all over the place, and I just didn't get what Bolick's ultimate goal was.